Ratchet wrenches are well known and commonly used tools for rotating all kinds of devices, particularly nuts and bolts. A ratchet wrench typically has a handle with a ratcheting means at one end. In the most common arrangement the ratchet tool includes a ratcheting means having a male extending portion, usually square in cross-section, which detachably receives a plurality of sockets configured to engage different sizes of bolts and nuts.
Another type of ratcheting tool includes an arrangement having a female type head to receive bolts and nuts. This type wrench is less expensive to produce but will receive only a single size nut or bolt. Frequently this type wrench includes a female socket arrangement at each end so that the same wrench can fit two different sizes of nuts or bolts.
Socket wrenches are preferred by workmen because of their speed and efficiency. Once the ratcheting wrench is affixed to a bolt it can be rotated towards the open or closed position by reciprocating the wrench handle. One problem with all type of ratcheting wrenches, however, is that there is always a slight amount of torque applied to the bolt or nut to which the wrench is affixed when the handle is rotated in the opposite direction to that by which torque is applied. All ratcheting wrenches have a ratchet mechanism which interlocks the handle with the ratcheting member when the handle is rotated in one direction but which allows the handle to rotate relative to the ratchet mechanism when the handle is rotated in the opposite direction. In this opposite direction motion there is, nevertheless, some slight torque applied to the ratcheting mechanism due to frictional engagement of components, or the sliding of a pall on a ratchet gear. When a nut or bolt has sufficient rotational friction, this slight rearward torque is of no problem. However, when a nut or bolt is loosely fitted in position, such as in the initial stages of tightening or the final stages or loosening, the ratcheting wrench will not work since as the handle is ratcheted it merely rotates the nut or bolt in the same degree of arc. When this occurs the user of the ratchet wrench has no choice other than to remove the wrench and rotate the nut or bolt by hand.
The present invention is directed towards a ratcheting wrench having means to enable the user to apply rotational torque to a nut or bolt being ratcheted even when the handle of the wrench is moved in the nontorqueing direction.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved ratcheting wrench.
More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a ratcheting wrench having an endless chain which engages the ratcheting element of the wrench and which can be engaged by the thumb or fingers, or both, of the user, to apply slight torque to the member when the wrench is moved in the direction opposite the torqueing direction.
These general objects of the invention will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.